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“Jun-Xu Li is a very creative experimentalist who has
conceived of new approaches for examining a wide variety of topics
in neuropharmacology, in general, and addiction research, in
particular,” says Li’s former mentor Charles France,
PhD, from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San
Antonio, who nominated Li for the award.

Identifying, Exploring New Targets for Treating Addiction

Li and his research team study new drug targets and evaluate
potential pharmacotherapeutic treatments for stimulant abuse. They
use behavioral pharmacological approaches in animal models that are
predictive of human stimulant abuse conditions.

“Stimulant abuse and addiction are difficult conditions to
treat because they lack FDA-approved pharmacotherapies, and the
biggest challenge is the high relapse rate, which currently has no
effective treatment,” says Li.

Li’s laboratory has found novel data showing that TAAR1
agonists might be effective for treating cocaine abuse. His
research in this area has been the basis of lectures and symposia
in China and the United States — and in summer 2016 he will
present his work at a symposium in Hungary.

Li has also found that drugs acting on imidazoline I2 receptors
may produce analgesic effects that are devoid of the abuse
liability, tolerance, dependence and other adverse effects of
opioid analgesic drugs.

His research aims to further delineate the pharmacological
properties of these drugs as a novel class of analgesics.

“It is particularly noteworthy that such a junior
investigator has been so innovative in identifying and exploring
new targets for treating addiction,” emphasizes France.

Mentoring Addiction Researchers is ‘High Priority’ for Li

Training the next generation of addiction researchers is a high
priority for Li, says France, describing Li as a mentor who is
“patient yet demanding, engaging while entertaining and
unanimously liked and respected by all.”

He mentors “very effectively as an independent
investigator, having graduated his first doctoral student, who
himself was very productive as a graduate student — and who
immediately got a full-time position conducting research,”
France notes.

Li is currently training two doctoral students, one
master’s student and a postdoctoral fellow.

“When I first joined Dr. Li’s lab, I didn't have a
pharmacology background, so I was unaware of some of the
pharmacological terms, methods and concepts. Dr. Li took the time
to introduce certain pharmacological concepts to me,” she
explains.

Lewter is studying the behavioral effects of novel positive
allosteric modulators (PAMS) for alpha-2 and alpha-3 containing
GABA A receptors and the potential utility of these PAMs as
analgesics.

Important Discoveries in Pharmacology

“Li has made a number of important discoveries on a
variety of topics in pharmacology,” says France.

He demonstrated that rats’ feeding conditions
significantly modify the behavioral effects of direct- and
indirect-acting serotonin (5-HT) receptor agonists. His experiments
suggested that different dietary conditions might impact
individuals’ vulnerability to abuse drugs that have actions
on 5-HT systems and the therapeutic effects of drugs acting on 5-HT
systems.

He also discovered that agonists acting at 5-HT2A receptors
significantly enhance the antinociceptive effects of opioid
receptor agonists without enhancing the drugs’ abuse-related
effects. The discovery provided a potential mechanism to account
for the widespread use of indirect-acting 5-HT receptor agonists
— such as selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors — in
combination with opioids for treating pain.

Li has shown that cannabinoids enhance the potency of opioids
for antinociception, but not their potency for discriminative
stimulus or positive reinforcing effects. His finding is being
pursued by several laboratories in the hope of developing an opioid
and cannabinoid mixture that is safe, effective for treating pain
and with reduced abuse liability, compared with larger doses of
opioids administered alone.

Award Named for Leader in Drug Abuse Research

The Joseph Cochin Young Investigator Award, which was
established in 1986, is named for a respected leader in drug abuse
research and a former chair and executive secretary of the
CPDD.

“This means a lot to me because it is a major award to
independent investigators under the age of 40 and because it is
judged on overall research achievements — instead of one
significant paper or finding,” says Li.

“This is recognition of scientific excellence from the
oldest and most prestigious scientific organization on drug abuse
research, and only one award is given each year,” he
adds.